Well so much for my new home gym...

Bulldog

Bulldog

Active Member
I was planning on buying a Powertec Workbench Bench/Rack System with some of my Christmas bonus money.

http://www.powertecfitness.com/workbench_bench.htm

But it looks like it is going to have to wait until some other time since some other things came up and I don't have enough cash now.

If anyone else happens to ever use this system please let me know what you think of it.  There are no Powertec dealers anywhere near me so I won't be able to try one out before I buy one.
 
That's a nice looking system. But you can get a nice home gym a piece at a time. Just save up and get a cage or good rack. Then when you can afford it add a good quality bench. After that, add an oly bar and some plates. As you continue to get stronger, all you'll have to change is to go out and by some more plates as you need them.

A little at a time is a lot easier to pay for than the whole thing at once. That's how I got my stuff. The mistake I made was not getting the cage first...I still don't have one.
 
yeah it would be best to get one piece at a time and get quality pieces as opposed to just buying it all and not knowing what you are getting.. i do like the link you had, wish i had the money/space myself for that one
 
Bulldog:  A Play It Again Sports about an hour from me just ordered the Powertec power rack -- I put some money down and I told 'em not to bother unpacking it.  I plan to pick it up the week after Christmas (bad form to buy yourself something right before Christmas!).  They matched the website price, too.  If no one else posts anything about this I can share my impressions in a couple of weeks.

This came as a total surprise, as the three Play It Agains closer to me don't carry any power racks (used or new).  Apparently they pretty much have freedom to order whatever equipment they want.

BTW, Bodybuilding.com has the rack & lat for about $50 less than the Powertec site -- they just won't have it in stock until about the end of January.
 
I would be interested in hearing what you think of it.

The Play it Again Sports here in town is pretty small and they don't have much weight equipment....and no power racks.
 
<div>
(vagrant @ Dec. 22 2006,11:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">That's a nice looking system.  But you can get a nice home gym a piece at a time.  Just save up and get a cage or good rack.  Then when you can afford it add a good quality bench.  After that, add an oly bar and some plates.  As you continue to get stronger, all you'll have to change is to go out and by some more plates as you need them.

A little at a time is a lot easier to pay for than the whole thing at once.  That's how I got my stuff.  The mistake I made was not getting the cage first...I still don't have one.</div>
Wouldn't I need the olympic weight set to utilize the power rack?  
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Obviously I could do pullups and dips if it has the dip attachement...but that would be about it without the weights.  It's kind of a catch 22.  Without the weights you can't do much with a rack and without a rack you can't do much with the weights!  
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If I could swing getting a rack AND the weights then that would work and I could get a bench later.  I'll have to think on this some more I guess.

Thanks for the ideas.
 
That looks like a decent machine for a good price. As for the weights, maybe used from the local paper, yard sales (always the cheapest), thrift stores or word-of-mouth inquiry. You could start out with a standard set for next to nothing and upgrade later. I still use my standard stuff for a lot of things, especially the spin-0n d/b's.
 
I still may be able to start putting a home gym together and I think your ideas of building it one piece at a time is a very good idea.

That being said I'm looking for a power rack. I didn't find anything on craigslist in my area and there is nothing in the local paper. So I'm looking at new racks. My limit for the rack will be riht around $400. So I was considering the Powertec rack which I could get for $369 delivered.

I also looked at the Body Solid Powerline power rack. I can get one of those for $275 delivered. It doesn't have quite as large a footprint (the Powerline is listed at 82&quot;H x 44&quot;L x 46&quot;W and the Powertec is listed at HT= 84&quot; L= 60&quot; W= 44&quot;) as the Powertec rack though which makes me worry that it may be a bit tipsy without bolting it down or adding weight to the bottom. I had also considered adding the lat pull-down for this one for an additional $180 which would put the total at $455. I considered adding the pull-down attachment for the added stability it would add to the rack as much as the ability to do the pull-downs and cable rows. Does anyone here have any experience with this rack?

So I'm curious if you guys think it is worth the extra $94 for the Powertec rack? I belive the Powertec has a lifetime warranty and the Powerline is only 10 years.

I also saw that our local Dunham's had 300 lb Olympic weight sets on sale for $119. I believe the brand was &quot;Cap&quot;? Any opinion on this brand? I have heard that some of the weights that Dicks and Sports Authority sell aren't even close to the weight they are supposed to be but I have not heard anything about this brand. My local MC Sports also has a 300 lb &quot;Marcy&quot; Olympic weight set for $149 but I haven't heard anything about their weights either. Any opinions on what brand of Olympic weights are good and accurate in weight?

Thanks.
 
I got the cheap gold's gym brand at walmart. I've weighed all the plates and all are as advertised (or really close to it). I may have just gotten lucky though.
 
Dang dude, that looks like a nice system.

Heres a thought, keep doing what your doing, save as you go and get that if its really what you want.

They make these little plastic things you can pay for things with but you really have to be disciplined to pay it off before they charge interest.
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Yeah the Powertec bench/rack system is pretty nice.  But I would really prefer a full cage.  I was only looking at the bench/rack system because with a bench it was cheaper than a cage with lat pulldown and a bench.

Saving until I get $800 will be near impossible as my wife will find other things to spend it on before I get it all saved up
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.  So buying pieces will probably be the only way I will get anything.

I have done the &quot;plastic thing&quot; before and I don't use them anymore.  They have destroyed my credit in the past and I'm still working to rebuild it.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has learned this the hard way.  But for you young guys out there.....use credit cards wisely or you will regret it for many, many years.
 
Yep, thats why I said you have to be disciplined.
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If I dont have the cash, I dont need it.

Young...haha

craigslist usually has a few things that pop up now and again, local classifieds seem to produce a few things...I passed up a hell of a deal the other day...life.
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Any opinions on the two racks I mentioned?  I know the Powertec is a better built, better quality rack than the Powerline rack.  But is it really worth the extra $94 for the addition of dip bars and a lifetime warranty?  Or would I be better off getting the cheaper Powerline rack and using the extra $94 to help pay for the olympic weights or help pay for a bench?
 
I've been adding to my &quot;gym&quot; a few dollars at a time, through yard sales, Play it Again, etc. Just a couple days ago, I bought an olympic weight set from play it again. It is mis-mstched, but with a coupon form the Entertainment Book, I only paid $68 plus tax. My bench is a yard sale find -- $10. I bought a bunch of standard plates and storage rack for $15.

I just found some pieces from a bench on the road side and will be altering it to make &quot;Power Pillars&quot; Like this:

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To replace my wooden squat rack. (made from 2 2x6's running floor to ceiling, $12 from Home Depot.)

You do what you can until something better comes along, you know? I do a lot of local searches on ebay too, always looking out for a great deal.
 
Bulldog, I'd go for the lifetime warranty. They are willing to stand behind their product and that says a lot. Dip bars are a nice plus too.

I did without my olympic weights for a long time before finally getting them.

I wish I'd bought the cage first because something keeps coming up to keep me from getting it. So I keep using the rack that's on my bench.

Get the expensive stuff first then it doesn't hurt so bad when you go back to piece together the cheaper stuff.
 
That's kind of what I was thinking too.  So that is probably what I will do.  But I will probably at least wait until Ruthenian posts some info on his rack since it's the same rack.
 
I have written up a review, but it is on my laptop and I am trying to hit the sack right now -- I'll post tomorrow (Jan 5).

One missing piece will be the lat attachment -- it didn't come in with the main rack and is supposed to ship this week.
 
I sold some stuff today and have $250 to spend on some equipment to start building my home gym. Should I wait until I have enough to get a rack or should I go ahead and buy the weight set now? I'm going to need the weights to utilize a rack but It will take longer to get a rack if I don't save this money to help pay for it?

I'm thinking I should buy a weight set now since I can still do dead lifts, overhead presses, bent rows and stuff like that without a rack.

The local MC Sports store has this 300 lb. Olympic weight set for $149 and it looks like the best set I have seen anywhere in town.
http://www.impex-fitness.com/proddetail.asp?ModelNumber=MAX+300

Opinions?
 
I went and got that weight set. It's on OK set and the grip handles are nice.

The bar only weighs 35 pounds but I can live with that. It's my understanding that all the cheap made in China bars are on the light side.

I weighed the 45, 35 &amp; 25 lb plates with my cheap crappy bathroom scale. They all are one pound lighter than they should be except one of the 45's is about 4 pounds lighter than the other one!!! Do you think they would exchange the light plate if I take it back or do you think I'm stuck with it?

I didn't weight the smaller plates because I don't think my scale is accurate enough to weigh them.
 
cool man, think I paid 120 for my last olympic set, funny thing was, the words on the plates were spelled wrong...haha

you can just rotate the weights every other workout to even things out.
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have you checked out ebay lately, I was looking around, seems I saw a few dust collector gyms on there and came with all kinds of free weight, cages, etc. for a heck of a price, maybe youd get lucky and one would be local?
 
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